Democrats Corrupting the Impeachment Process

THE TOP LINE: Democrats are corrupting historic norms and processes in their desperation to impeach President Trump.

Impeachment is a grave responsibility. Process matters — not just to ensure that the President in question gets a fair shake, but because the American people must be able to trust the final results of the process.

However, in their rush to impeach President Trump, Democrats continue to show historic disregard for the House’s norms and processes.

OVERVIEW:

This week, Democrats are continuing their obsession to undo the 2016 election by making baseless accusations, rushing to judgement, disregarding all past precedent, and moving forward with a completely illegitimate impeachment inquiry.

Democrats are turning the House into a kangaroo court determined to generate a predetermined outcome.

Democrats have been intent on impeaching this president from day one. It’s no surprise they have no plan of affording anything close to due process.

DUE PROCESS FOULS:

Impeachment proceedings of the President have only taken place three times throughout history. In all three cases, the impeachment inquiry was first authorized by a full vote in the House.

This is important because impeachment inquire resolutions have previously protected the minority and provided for due process by:

Without these tools, the process becomes completely partisan and is meant to produce a predetermined outcome.

By refusing to hold a vote in the full House to authorize the impeachment inquiry, the Speaker is also infringing on the rights of every member of the House.

Impeachment inquiries should not be unilaterally initiated via press conference, as Speaker Pelosi did last week.

Duly elected members of Congress deserve a vote on whether to move forward with an impeachment inquiry.

The goal of an impeachment proceeding should not be to justify a partisan agenda but to follow the facts and discover the truth.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Democrats have no intention of providing President Trump with anything close to due process. Speaker Pelosi’s appointment of Adam Schiff to head up this investigation is just the latest in the Democrats’ disregard for process — Chairman Schiff had prior knowledge and involvement in the whistleblower complaint, grossly misrepresented the transcript at a public hearing, and never apologized for claiming he had “more than circumstantial evidence” that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Through impeachment-by-press-conference, Speaker Pelosi has engineered her inquiry to arrive at a predetermined outcome.